This disclosure relates to a reinforced composite fan blade for a gas turbine engine.
Gas turbine engine fan blades are designed to absorb impacts from foreign objects entering the engine. The use of composite materials for fan blades has become more prevalent. Composite fan blades provide low weight, low cost and a lower containment weight. Typically, lower containment weight enables the fan blade to be more easily contained by surrounding engine structures upon fracture.
It is more difficult to absorb impact energy with thinner composite fan blade designs. To increase the impact strength of the fan blade, a metallic outer sheath has been used. That is, a thin piece or sheet of metallic material has been secured to a composite fan blade, in particular, at a trailing edge of the blade near its tip. It is desirable to provide a more robust composite fan blade with greater impact absorption capability.